Wretched man that I am

Above is a picture I drew Saturday night while meditating on Romans 7 and listening to MP3 sermons from my favorite teachers (Bill Holdridge, Chuck Smith, Roger Scalice, Steve Gregg). Blessed is the man who meditates on the law of the Lord day and night. (Psalm 1:2)

Romans 7 describes our relationship to the law. Believers in Christ are reminded that we are not under the law anymore. How did we get out from under it's demands? We died with Christ. and just as a marriage is until death do you part, we have parted from the law so that we can be joined to Christ, as to a better husband. This doesn't mean that we can sin all we want, quite the opposite, we won't want to sin, because we have been changed by God's grace. Under grace He personally works in us both to will and to do according to His good pleasure. Some points are hard to grasp but we can all relate to the honest struggle Paul describes that we have between our flesh and our spirit. But when we come to the end of our self righteousness and stop using the law to become righteous we look outside of our selves and find hope in our Savior. "Oh wretched man that I am, who can deliver me from this body of death? Thank God for Jesus!" The law did it's job in condemning me and leading me to my Savior, so I am no longer under the law, but under Christ, who is the solution for the problem of my sin and flesh. He has justified me, He is sanctifying me, and one day he will give me a glorified body. Praise God for his redemption!